This is worth a read, it could save your lives. Its high time we start learning these survival skills as Malaysia should no longer be considered a nation free from natural catastrophe. Doug Copp is the Rescue Chief and Disaster Manager of the American Rescue Team International (ARTI), the world's most experienced rescue team. In 1996 he made a film which proved his survival methodology called "Triangle of Life" to be correct. What is "Triangle of Life"? When buildings collapse, the weight of the ceilings falling upon the objects or furniture inside crushes these objects, leaving a space or void next to them. This space is what Doug called the "triangle of life". The larger the object, the stronger, the less it will compact. The less the object compacts, the larger the void, the greater the probability that the person who is using this void for safety will not be injured. The next time you watch collapsed buildings on television, count the "triangles" you see formed. They are everywhere. It is the most common shape you will see in a collapsed building.The Turkish Federal Government, City of Istanbul, University of Istanbul Case Productions and ARTI cooperated to film this practical, scientific test. They collapsed a school and a home with 20 mannequins inside. 10 mannequins did "duck and cover," and 10 mannequins used "triangle of life" survival method. After the simulated earthquake collapse they crawled through the rubble and entered the building to film and document the results. The film showed there were 0% survival for those doing "duck and cover". There would likely have been 100 % survivability for people using method of the "triangle of life." Roberto Rosales, Chief of Rescue in Trujillo was trapped inside a collapsed building when he was 11. His entrapment occurred during the earthquake of 1972 and 70,000 people were killed. He survived in the "triangle of life" that existed next to his brother's motorcycle. His friends who got under the bed and under desks were crushed to death. He claimed proudly that he is the living example of the "triangle of life" and his dead friends are the example of "duck and cover". TIPS DOUG COPP PROVIDES: - Everyone who simply "ducks and covers" when buildings collapse is crushed to death -- every time, without exception. People who get under objects, like desks or cars, are always crushed.
- Cats, dogs and babies all naturally often curl up in the fetal position. You should too in an earthquake. It is a natural safety/survival instinct. You can survive in a smaller void. Get next to an object, next to a sofa, next to a large bulky object that will compress slightly but leave a void next to it.
- Wooden buildings are the safest type of construction to be in during an earthquake. The reason is simple: the wood is flexible and moves with the force of the earthquake. If the wooden building does collapse, large survival voids are created. Also, the wooden building has less concentrated, crushing weight. Brick buildings will break into individual bricks. Bricks will cause many injuries but less squashed bodies than concrete slabs.
- If you are in bed during the night and an earthquake occurs, simply roll off the bed. A safe void will exist around the bed. Hotels can achieve a much greater survival rate in earthquakes, simply by posting a sign on the back of the door of every room, telling occupants to lie down on the floor, next to the bottom of the bed during an earthquake.
- If an earthquake happens while you are watching television and you cannot easily escape by getting out the door or window, then lie down and curl up in the fetal position next to a sofa, or large chair.
- Everybody who gets under a doorway when buildings collapse is killed. How? If you stand under a doorway and the door jam falls forward or backward you will be crushed by the ceiling above. If the door jam falls sideways you will be cut in half by the doorway. In either case, you will be killed!
- Never go to the stairs. The stairs have a different "moment of frequency" (they swing separately from the main part of the building).The stairs and remainder of the building continuously bump into each other until structural failure of the stairs takes place. The people who get on stairs before they fail are chopped up by the stair treads. They are horribly mutilated. Even if the building doesn't collapse, stay away from the stairs. The stairs are a likely part of the building to be damaged.Even if the stairs are not collapsed by the earthquake, they may collapse later when overloaded by screaming, fleeing people. They should always be checked for safety, even when the rest of the building is not damaged.
- Get near the outer walls of buildings or outside of them if possible it is much better to be near the outside of the building rather than the interior. The further inside you are from the outside perimeter of the building the greater the probability that your escape route will be blocked.
- People inside of their vehicles are crushed when the road above falls in an earthquake and crushes their vehicles; which is exactly what happened with the slabs between the decks of the Nimitz Freeway. The victims of the San Francisco earthquake all stayed inside of their vehicles. They were all killed. Everyone killed would have survived if they had been able to get out of their cars and sit or lie next to them. All the crushed cars had voids 3 feet high next to them, except for the cars that had columns fall directly across them.
- newspaper offices and offices with a lot of paper are fairly safe. Paper does not compact. Large voids are found surrounding stacks of paper.
I hope this useful information is never needed.....Labels: Good to know, survivor guide
